C-section babies more likely to become overweight

Children born via cesarean section are slightly more likely than babies delivered vaginally to become heavy or obese, according to a new review of studies. The results don’t prove that c-sections cause kids to put on weight, but Dr. Jianmeng Liu, one of the authors of the study and a professor at Peking University Health Science Center in China, said the link between the delivery and obesity is important to keep in mind.

The risk for childhood obesity in particular was somewhat higher – about a 40 percent increase over kids born vaginally. Nearly one in five kids aged six to 11 is obese in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Liu said the increase in risk was modest, but that it persists into adulthood. When the researchers looked just at the studies on adults, they found that those who were born surgically were 50 percent more likely to be obese than those who were born vaginally.

WHY THE LINK?

It’s not clear why c-section births are tied to a better chance of being heavy.

One possibility relates to the bacteria babies are exposed to when they are delivered vaginally, which might affect the way they process and store food, said Liu. Additionally, researchers have suggested that c-sections are linked with a lower concentration in the umbilical cord of a hormone important in regulating weight and with a reduced rate of breastfeeding, “both of which are reported to be associated with an increased risk of later obesity.”

Babies who are larger than normal are also more likely to be born via cesarean, but most of the studies Liu’s team analyzed took into account birth weight.

Cesareans have become increasingly popular, and in the U.S. now one in four babies is born through a c-section. Liu said there’s been concern that some of these are unnecessary, and given the potential negative impacts on children the unneeded ones should be curbed.